The Dark Knight Rises: Meet the characters

All of us are waiting with bated breath for the final installment of Christopher Nolan's Batman. To whip up your appetite, here's a low down on the characters that inhabit Gotham city in the final film of the series...

__START__Commissioner James Gordon

The actual in charge of the law and order situation in Gotham City, Commissioner Gordon, had an exciting outing in Batman’s last movie-The Dark Knight, where he got promoted and well, almost died. In the new movie,veteran actor Gary Oldman reprises his role as the police head and Bruce’s confidant. From what we have seen in the trailers, Gordon might just get fired from his job but not before stirring Batman back into action mode.

__PAGEBREAK__1. John Blake

Blake is a young police officer with a sad past, whose strong intuitive skills catch the eye of Commissioner Gordan. An idealist with a likable presence, who strongly believes in Batman’s goodness, Blake, essayed by Inception actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt, may just be the surprise package of the film, with rumours of a follow up movie based on his character, doing the rounds.

__PAGEBREAK__2. Miranda Tate

A board (but in no ways boring) member of Wayne Enterprises, Miranda is a philanthropist who is heading a clean energy initiative for Bruce’s company. She entices him to come out of his semi-retirement, and we might even see her competiting with Selina for Batman’s affections. Played by the impossibly beautiful Marion Cotillard, Tate is a welcome addition to the series, atleast for the male viewers.

__PAGEBREAK__3. Alfred

Bruce Wayne’s trusted butler cum father figure, Alfred has always been there for Bruce since his childhood days, coming up with useful advice at the right times as well as insightful wisdom about life in general.Their relationship will be further explored in TDKR, with Alfred, played exquisitely by Michael Caine, tipped to provide core emotional moments of the movie.

__PAGEBREAK__4. Selina Kyle

A sly cat burglar (pardon the pun), who forces Bruce to don his Batman suit again, with a wily robbery right under his nose, Selina , who is never referred to as Catwoman in the movie, harbours hidden motives and has ambiguous loyalties. Is she cahooting with Bane, or has she been seduced by Batman’s charms, you will have to wait for the movie to find out. But Anne Hathaway rocks the character in an eye catching catsuit and delivers the movie’s most haunting dialogue. "There's a storm coming, Mr. Wayne, you're all going to wonder how you could ever live so large and leave so little for the rest of us."

__PAGEBREAK__5. Bane

A former member of the League of Shadows, Bane is a terrorist hell bent on destroying Gotham, or as he thinks, restoring the right order to the society. With a bulked up body and a Hannibalesque mask on his disfigured face, Bane too hides scars of a painful past under his menacing looks and highly muffled voice.Unlike Batman’s previous villains, Bane is physically capable of taking down the caped crusader single-handedly.Will Tom Hardy be able to match the high standards set by Heath Ledger, we just can’t wait to find out.

__PAGEBREAK__6. Batman/ Bruce Wayne

Our tortured billionaire returns 8 years after he lost his lady love Rachel to the Joker’s evil schemes and took on the blame for Harvey Dent’s death. Having retreated into his mansion , the anti-social Batman,brilliantly acted out by Christian Bale, is snapped out of his retirement when Gotham city faces its hour of crises. Bane not only inflicts physical pain onto him, he makes him come face to face with his childhood fears. Does Bane kill him? What happens to our superhero with a soul? Get your answers in the theatres.